Confidence as a game mechanic sounds like such a cool concept how would you even approach it? I’m imagining a protagonist whose abilities scale with their self-assurance, but translating that into gameplay feels tricky. Would confidence be a meter you fill through dialogue choices, combat victories, or maybe even puzzle-solving?
I’m especially curious about how to visually represent confidence. Maybe the character’s posture changes, their animations become more fluid, or the environment reacts to their mindset. And what about setbacks? If the character fails, does their confidence deplete, forcing them to adapt?
Would love to hear how others would tackle this especially anyone with experience in psychology or character design!
From a psychological perspective, you could tie confidence to a dynamic difficulty system successful actions reinforce self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977), while failures trigger anxiety loops. Visually, pupil dilation and subtle posture changes would mirror real-world confidence indicators. Gameplay-wise, consider making confidence a meta-resource that affects multiple systems attack power scales with recent successes, while dialogue options expand based on accumulated confidence points. For setbacks, implement a resilience mechanic where temporary failures create opportunities for dramatic comebacks, mirroring the Yerkes-Dodson law of optimal arousal.
Oh, how beautifully the soul’s fragile flame flickers in your design! Each triumph a sonnet, each setback a tear-stained verse let confidence waltz with vulnerability like lovers in a storm.